No Pop Tarts for This Kid

SURE BRITNEY SPEARS IS HOT. But the figures that get Christopher Lahiji's 19-year-old heart racing belong to companies, like grocery retailer
Smart & Final,
one of his favorite stocks. While many other teenagers obsess about the saucy pop tart, the Santa Monica Community College student seems obsessed with annual reports. He claims in an e-mail sent to Barron's that, over nine months, he read those of every publicly traded company in the U.S. That's 12,019, folks.

Barron's can't verify the feat, of course. But the Santa Monica, Calif. native seems to have an encyclopedic knowledge of companies -- which he's poured into 150 stock recommendations: Focusing on stocks that trade for less than the price of a $2 cup of coffee, issued by companies that have stock-market values under $100 million, Lahiji launched the imaginary Lahiji Tiny Fund in November with an imaginary $10 million. Led by a gaudy 1,223% gain in
Rediff.com,
an Indian Web portal, the fund has returned a sizzling 45% since then, he says -- even though many of his holdings are deep in the red. In contrast, the Russell 2000 Index is up 3% in that span.

Lahiji, who bought -- and took a bath in -- his first stock, sportsgear-maker
Fila,
when he was 11, revels in a growing local rep as a micro-cap maven. He's jazzed that someone called him the Lebron James of finance, a reference to the high-school basketballer expected to be the top selection in the next NBA draft. But 10-hour days touting stocks leave him little time to attend classes regularly, although he claims a 3.8 GPA. And what he says is his tendency to size up girls like stocks ("I think you're overvalued") hasn't enhanced his social life.

Lahiji, who says he's made just $500 offering investment advice to relatives, friends and strangers, says one of his goals is to bring attention to deserving small enterprises, thereby helping to stimulate the economy. Also, "I want to be the person [Americans] think of first when [they] think of the stock market," he says.

And what if this kid is making this all up? Hey, what better preparation could anyone have for a career on Wall Street?

Dow Indicator

Dow Industrials

8306.35

- 31.30

Dow World Index

140.74

+ 0.25

30-Yr T-Bonds

4.82

- 0.08

Economic Toss-Up

First-quarter GDP rose at an 1.6% annual rate in the first quarter, up from 1.4% in the fourth quarter of 2002, according to the Commerce Dept. Economists were expecting 2.3% growth in the quarter. Yet consumer confidence is perking up. The University of Michigan's consumer-sentiment index moved to a revised 86.0 as of the end of April, up from a nine-year low of 77.6 in March. And although existing-home sales fell by 5.6% in March, according to the National Association of Realtors, the government says new-home sales rose a stronger-than-expected 7.3% last month.

A surprisingly weak GDP report, worries about SARS and a sour profit projection from
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Holdings
put investors in a selling mood Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed Friday down 133.69 points, or 1.6%, to close the week at 8,306.35. Despite selloffs at the S&P 500 and Nasdaq as well on Friday, both ended the week slightly higher.

Play It Again, Alan

President Bush indicated Tuesday he would nominate Alan Greenspan to a fifth term as chairman of the Federal Reserve, and the 77-year-old Greenspan, who underwent surgery Tuesday to correct a non-cancerous enlarged prostate, quickly said he would accept the nomination. Bush's bullish call on Greenspan, who's been Fed chairman since 1987 and is regarded as a steadying influence during these shaky economic times, helped send the Dow up 156.09 points.

Tension Rising

The U.S.'s first meeting with North Korea since the Korean War ended in acrimony as Pyongyang declared it already has nuclear weapons -- and threatened to make more and even export some unless the U.S. makes significant political and economic concessions. Secretary of State Colin Powell said the U.S. wants a diplomatic solution but warned North Korea "we will not be threatened." It was left to China, the talks' host, to strike a more conciliatory tone. On Friday, the last day of the three-day talks, China's foreign minister Li Zhaoxing said both North Korea and the U.S. want to resolve the dispute peacefully.

Cutting the Deck

Tariq Aziz, Saddam Hussein's former deputy premier, surrendered to U.S. Forces in Baghdad. Aziz had been dubbed the 8 of spades, or No. 43, in the Pentagon's card deck of the 55 most wanted Iraqi officials.

Oil's Not Well

OPEC surprised the oil market Thursday by announcing a smaller-than-expected reduction in oil output. To bolster prices amid sluggish demand, OPEC said it would reduce output to 25.4 million barrels a day, effective June 1. Oil prices fell after the announcement Thursday but later rebounded to close at $26.64 barrel.

Losing Altitude

A day after calling
AMR's
first-quarter results "truly dreadful," Donald Carty, under fire for failing to disclose executive perks, quit as chairman and CEO of the American Airlines' parent. Friday afternoon, AMR reached agreement with its flight attendants union, which it said it needed to stave off bankruptcy filing.

Funny Business

AOL Time Warner
agreed to sell its 50% stake in cable-TV network Comedy Central to
Viacom
for $1.23 billion. Proceeds from the sale will help lighten AOL's massive $29 billion debt load, and Viacom expects the acquisition to boost its earnings.

Catch a Falling Star

Former Credit Suisse First Boston investment banker Frank Quattrone was arrested and charged by federal prosecutors with obstructing justice and tampering with witnesses in connection with the probe of IPO practices at CSFB.

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com.